HARLINGEN — A tumultuous chapter has concluded with a federal agency’s dismissal of a complaint that Sun Valley Aviation Inc. filed against the city of Harlingen and Valley International Airport.
But the Federal Aviation Administration found that the city and VIA had discriminated against Sun Valley Aviation, public records reflect. An FAA report found that economic opportunity and competitiveness had been stifled by their protection of the longtime fixed-based operator at the airport, Gulf Aviation Inc., the records reflect.
The FAA on Dec. 11 dismissed the 2010 complaint that alleged the city and VIA had discriminated against SVA by continually delaying, obstructing, and denying its attempts to establish a fixed-based operation at the airport.
The FAA found that the city and VIA are now in compliance with federal regulations by allowing SVA’s proposed fixed-based operation access at the airport. As a result, federal grant funds to the city to further develop the airport are no longer in jeopardy.
SVA principle Pat Kornegay said the FAA’s 69-page report of its investigation into the complaint, and the findings and conclusions, represent “a great measure of vindication” for him, the company and shareholders.
“It was a comedy of errors,” Kornegay said, adding that the events, from 2007 through early 2010, resulted from the city’s and VIA’s misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the city’s obligations to the federal government. Furthermore, “it was politically motivated,” Kornegay said.
For the city, Mayor Chris Boswell said Saturday, “We’re obviously very pleased with the outcome of the FAA complaint and that the FAA has found the city to be in voluntary compliance resulting in no penalty. The record is clear that I, as mayor, and the Airport Board unanimously recommended the steps necessary to bring us into voluntary compliance at a very early stage in the process.”
Former Airport Board President Rick Ledesma also commented on the dismissal of the complaint. “I am pleased that it has been resolved and that the complaints were dismissed by the FAA. I think it was a monumental waste of time for the city, the airport, and everybody involved. Everybody should be glad it is over and move on.”
District 2 Commissioner Robert Leftwich said, “The bottom-line is that the City Commission never denied anyone the opportunity to do business at VIA using their own money, and the FAA confirmed that.
“The original propose was for taxpayer money to be used at risk to build additional structures, even though no study supported the market for any. As we know now the deal has been structured, and though no hanger was constructed at taxpayer expense, the city has been cleared by the FAA.”
In the extensive FAA report, Randall Fiertz, director of the Office of Airport Compliance and Management Analysis, found that the city’s and VIA’s dealings with SVA and Kornegay, starting in 2007 through early 2010, had been arbitrary, discriminatory, and motivated by concerns to protect the interests of a business concern, public records reflect.
Fiertz wrote in the report that the city and VIA had achieved compliance by ceasing to “unreasonably deny access” to SVA to the airport, ceasing to “unjustly discriminate” against SVA, and ceasing “to take deliberate steps to further protect” Gulf Aviation Inc.’s position as the sole fixed-based operation at the airport.
The city’s response to SVA’s allegations was that SVA failed to certify substantial and good faith efforts toward resolution of the disputes, jumped the gun by filing a formal complaint before an informal complaint was resolved, and that the city had offered SVA a 40-year lease just four days prior to filing its answer to the complaint.
FAA’s report also found that during the time in question, the city deviated from its standard and accepted leasing practices and gave priority to Gulf Aviation, took deliberate action to avoid developing infrastructure in support of its prime obligation, misrepresented its actions to FAA, ignored FAA’s direction, and made statements contradicted by facts. “This leads the Director to question whether the (city and VIA) intentionally misled the Director,” the report states.
FAA wrote that the city and VIA “defied the FAA’s guidance in both its answer and rebuttal by continuing to employ the guise of a ‘pending investigation’ as a legitimate reason for delaying negotiations” with SVA.
Ledesma questioned the veracity of some of FAA’s findings, including one that says the record is clear that he would not allow further negotiations with SVA until Kornegay rescinded the allegations he made regarding then-Airport Board member Jim Solis’ relationship with Gulf Aviation.
Ledesma said Saturday that at the time he was on the Airport Board he had informed the board that he wanted to place SVA’s proposal on a fast track, but that this stalled after Kornegay filed the complaint against Solis, alleging a conflict of interest with the principal of Gulf Aviation Inc.
“The city attorney and the airport attorney instructed us to cease all negotiations,” Ledesma said.
After negotiations ceased, Ledesma said, he received a call from the airport’s Director of Aviation Michael Browning stating that Kornegay had decided to drop the Solis complaint so that he could restart negotiations.
“I told Mr. Browning that Mr. Kornegay should do it in writing so that we could show it to City Attorney Brendan Hall,” Ledesma said.
“A few days later, Mr. Kornegay filed a complaint against me claiming that I had offered to restart negotiations if he would drop his complaint in writing … I never spoke to Mr. Kornegay directly, so it seemed odd that he would make an accusation against me, based on a conversation he had with Mr. Browning,” Ledesma recalled.
“I believe if Sun Valley had not filed a complaint in April 2009, they would have been able to start their operation in the summer of 2009. The filing of the complaints prompted the attorneys to cease all negotiations. Once that happened, it became a circus, and complaints started getting filed left and right.”
Insofar as Solis, Kornegay had said that he had witnessed Solis boarding an aircraft operated by Gulf Aviation on May 15, 2008. Kornegay requested that the Airport Board investigate whether Solis had violated the city’s ethics code and that he not take part in future votes until an investigation was concluded because he was a member of the Airport Board and had opposed the establishment of a competing fixed-base operation at the airport.
The public record reflects that the city, through the City Attorney’s Office, brought attorney Tom Sullivan on board as special prosecutor to investigate Kornegay’s allegations.
Sullivan cleared Solis and Ledesma, finding the allegations against them to be invalid.
But another inquiry began when, according to the FAA, an official seized upon a single sentence in Sullivan’s report: “The timing of the allegation of unethical conduct strikes this investigation as retaliatory and an effort to coerce or at least influence a public servant in the specific performance of his official duty.”
An inquiry ensued, but Kornegay was the target this time, the public record shows. The report was turned over to the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s Office recused itself, and state District Judge Ben Euresti then appointed Sullivan as the special prosecutor on the case and four criminal indictments were returned against Kornegay and SVA, charging that Kornegay and SVA had threatened to harm Solis by making a public accusation of unethical conduct to prevent or delay his service as a public servant and in retaliation.
Euresti removed himself and a visiting judge dismissed the indictments against Kornegay and SVA.
Kornegay filed civil lawsuits against Solis and Sullivan and also filed a complaint with the FAA against Gulf Aviation. Gulf Aviation sued Kornegay and Kornegay counter-sued.
Kornegay obtained settlements from the civil lawsuits, and FAA dismissed the complaint against Gulf Aviation.
“It was three-ring circus,” Ledesma recalled.
“I have no bad feelings towards the folks at Sun Valley Aviation. They are good people. I think there may have been miscommunication when Mr. Kornegay spoke to Mr. Browning, that prompted them to file a complaint against me. But now, it’s water under the bridge. We should all move on, and count our blessings.
“I think this is an ordeal that everyone involved would rather forget.”
Story and Photos: http://www.valleymorningstar.com
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